February 10, 2014

Monday Midday Must-Reads

-Spirit Airlines' CEO Ben Baldanza recently challenged the Associated Press' Scott Mayerowitz to a board game in this article. Baldanza's love of strategy and board games has helped him create the low-budget airline that has low fares but charges for pretty much everything else. "Baldanza's ultimate dream — if the government would let him — would be to create two components of a ticket: the price of fuel and everything else. Passengers would pay more or less, depending on the cost of fuel the day they fly," the article says.

-Buying airline tickets months in advance of a vacation often don't work out for consumers as airlines are constantly changing their flight schedules, says the Wall Street Journal's Scott McCartney. "Airlines sell tickets as much as 11 months in advance, but rarely end up flying the same schedules they sold," he writes, detailing how changes in flight schedules can cost consumers who then have to change hotel reservations and car rental bookings.

-The FAA has fined an Amazon.com subsidiary for mislabeling a hazardous materials shipment. On Friday, the agency proposed a $78,000 fine for shipping high-gloss enamel paint that leaked through the package, according to this story by McClatchy's Curtis Tate.